Pot shops buzz, crime eases as Colorado law marks 6 months

DENVER (Reuters) - At the Native Roots Apothecary, a
discreet marijuana shop in a grand old building in Denver's busy
16th street shopping mall, business is so brisk that customers
are given a number before taking a seat to wait their turn.

There are young men in ball caps, nervous-looking
professionals in suits, and the frail and elderly. Staff say
customers have been flocking to their outlets since Colorado
voted to allow recreational pot use for adults from January.

Six months on, Colorado's marijuana shops are mushrooming,
with support from local consumers, weed tourists and federal
government taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Tax dollars are pouring in, crime is down in Denver, and few
of the early concerns about social breakdown have materialized -
at least so far.

"The sky hasn't fallen, but we're a long way from knowing
the unintended consequences," said Andrew Freeman, director of
marijuana coordination for Colorado. "This is a huge social and
economic question."

Denver, dubbed the "Mile High" city, now has about 340
recreational and medicinal pot shops. They tout the relaxing,
powerful or introspective attributes of the crystal-encased buds
with names like Jilly Bean, Sour Diesel and Silverback Kush.

In the first four months, marijuana sales amounted to more
than $202 million, about a third of them recreational. Taxes
from recreational sales were almost $11 million.

Despite some critics' fears of a pot-driven crime explosion,
Denver police say burglaries and robberies were down by between
4 and 5 percent in the first four months of the year.

THE DOWN SIDE

On the down side, sheriff's deputies in neighboring Nebraska
say pot seizures near the Colorado border have shot up 400
percent in three years, while Wyoming and New Mexico report no
significant increases.

In May, controls on marijuana edibles were tightened after
two people died. In one case, a college student jumped from a
hotel balcony after eating six times the suggested maximum
amount of pot-laced cookies. In the other, a Denver man was
charged with shooting dead his wife after apparently getting
high from eating marijuana-infused candy.

As Colorado passes the six-month mark, Washington state is
approaching with some trepidation the launch next week of the
nation's second recreational pot market.

Up to 20 retail marijuana stores are due to receive licenses
on July 7, fueling concerns about long lines, high prices, and
the possibility of inadequate supplies when doors open the
following day. Washington state officials have received some
2,600 applications from would-be weed growers, but say they have
approved fewer than 80.

A recreational pot initiative will be on the ballot in
Alaska this fall, and legalization bills look likely to pass in
Oregon and the District of Columbia.

Although the Colorado law sanctioned pot sales only to those
over the age of 21, one of the biggest concerns is the effect on
teens.

Gina Carbone helped to found Smart Colorado, a non-profit
aimed at informing young people.

She said the state's commercialization of pot put the
business interests of the marijuana industry at the forefront,
and that youngsters' perception of harm from the drug had been
dramatically reduced.

Even before recreational retail sales began, Carbone said,
rates of marijuana use among eighth-graders were significantly
higher in Colorado than in other states.

"They are receiving messaging that this is medicine, that
this is healthy," she said. "A lot of people that even voted for
(legalization) are saying, 'Gosh, I didn't know it was going to
look like this.'"

Visitors at Denver weed stores have their ID checked, often
more than once. Some 20 recent sting operations have failed to
catch any shops selling to under-21s.

Store workers at Native Roots, among the most
well-established outlets, say they've seen a diverse range of
recreational buyers, from heavy-lidded students, to curious
middle-class couples and seniors.

Native Roots sells cannabis in child-proof plastic
containers priced at about $60 for 1/8th of an ounce, as well as
pot-infused cookies and candy and marijuana e-cigarettes.

"This will help your pain," long-haired salesman Rob Folse
told an older woman with a cane and a few tattered bank notes.
"We're giving you a discount, Dear, because we understand your
situation."